Samurai Math Beats

Samurai Math Beats

Score

He promised his albums would become increasingly accessible, and [a]Bogdan Raczynski[/a] is as good as his word....

He promised his albums would become increasingly accessible, and [a]Bogdan Raczynski[/a] is as good as his word. That his word is ‘incomprehensible’ is inevitable, really – the Rephlex All-Star comes from a musical milieu where communication is erratic at the best of times. If his debut ‘Boku Mo Wakaran’ was a mass of untitled abstract abrasions, at least ‘Samurai Math Beats’ has a tracklisting. Sure, it’s in Japanese, but let’s take it in a spirit of goodwill.

Lord knows there must be some. Cryptic as a pictogram, linear like a spinning top, ‘Samurai Math Beats’ is as coherent as anything recorded on one decrepit PC is likely to be. Suspect funk, beat pandemonium, leering Aphexual innuendo – it’s mainly accessible to anyone equally obsessed with algebra, martial arts and the speeded-up voices of children. A private vice, possibly – an acquired taste, certainly.

Yet Raczynski is best when he’s at his worst. When he gets playful – harps, chatter, stoner drawling – he just sounds like Cornelius trying out the drill’n’bass button on his synthesizer. What you want is track 12 crawling unpleasantly from the ‘Come To Daddy’ creche, or the looming first track, remaking [I]Christine [/I]with a demon ice-cream van. More evil. More vileness. More noise. After all, the joy of access is going where you shouldn’t.